Body & Mind

These good resolutions are not good for you at all

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. Women hide a purchase twice as often as men. The frontrunners in the list are women up to 29 years old. Certainly, a quarter of them has bought something without telling her boyfriend. Oops. Shhh. Can this fact remain a secret too? Thanks. Best regards from me and my YSL bag.

We all know by now that it is important to set clear goals for yourself when it comes to New Year's resolutions. You not only need to know what you want to achieve, but also how you want to achieve it. For example, it helps to not say ‘I want to exercise more’ but ‘I want to be less lazy’. Psychologically, it is somehow easier to do something less than to have to do something more. And yet, even a less/more goal is not sufficient to maintain a resolution well. A measurable goal is a clear finish line. But well, all those nice New Year's resolutions are fun and all, because some resolutions are actually not good for you at all.

Losing weight
There are so many ways to fail when it comes to losing weight. Denying yourself everything or just thinking every day ‘oh, tomorrow is another day’ is the recipe for disaster. Strangely enough, ‘losing weight’ as a goal in itself is also a bad plan. Instead of focusing on counting calories, you should think about adopting a healthier lifestyle. It's not only a more positive twist for yourself, but it also ensures that you can maintain the result once you have achieved your goal.

Going to the gym every day gym
If you suddenly have to go to the gym every day from nothing, that is quite a tough and unrealistic goal to maintain. And not only that: it is also simply not good for your body. Start slowly and build up the workouts. Suppose you first agree with yourself to go to the gym twice a week on fixed days: that is not only easier to maintain, but it also gives your body the rest it needs to recover. And you really don't have to go all out every time. Sometimes it's already a big step to even go, and then it's also fine to walk for a quarter of an hour on the Stairmaster.

Saving a lot of money
Of course, we all want a fat savings account, a little something for a rainy day, or to pay off that big student debt. But even here the motto is: keep it realistic. You might think that you are going to save 20,000 euros this year, but if you have to cut back so much that it costs you quite a bit of joy in life, you will understand that this is absolutely not the intention. See what you could miss each month, without having to cancel all your dinners and birthdays, and turn that into a goal for this year. If you need a little extra motivation, you can set a savings goal in your banking app. How nice is it to see that bar getting fuller until you reach the goal? That realistic goal also ensures that you cannot be tempted to make impulse purchases. The chance that you give in to that temptation is greater when you deny yourself a lot, which makes you crave the little happiness boost you get from new things.